1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to solar energy and more particularly to a novel method for forming a solar collector through a molding process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The substantial increase in the cost of fossil fuel has encouraged investigation into alternate forms of energy to meet the needs of coming generations. Significant emphasis has been placed on the investigation of nuclear power, wind power, wave power and solar power. Among the most promising of these alternate forms of energy is the collection of solar energy. Solar energy has the advantage of being environmentally safe and producing no waste product. In addition, the source of power is essentially limited only by the number of collectors constructed. Solar collectors are also capable of operation in almost any location without concern for environmental impact on the location.
Unfortunately, solar collectors have not found widespread use in the art since the present collectors are low in efficiency of operation. Inefficient operation, per se, is not objectionable, but the present cost of solar collectors makes the state-of-the-art solar collector uneconomical for most purposes. The most promising of all solar collectors is the liquid heating solar collectors which are capable of mounting on the roof of commercial and residential buildings. The relatively high cost of these units has discouraged the widespread use of these units on residential and commercial buildings. In addition, these state-of-the-art solar collectors cannot withstand the ambient exposure and degrade with time.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an inexpensive and reliable solar water collector which is economically feasible for use with residential and commercial buildings.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the solar collecting art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a solar collector including a base and a plurality of upstanding walls extending about the perimeter of the base with a plurality of conduits interconnecting an input and an output with the conduits and the base being a one-piece molding of a curable material.
Another object of this invention is to provide the method of forming a solar collector by positioning a first and a second mold element to form a mold cavity which defines the outer configuration of the solar collector. The mold cavity is filled with a curable material and drained prior to a complete curing of the curable material thereby removing the uncured material from the mold cavity to define the internal configuration of the solar collector.
Another object of this invention is to provide a solar collector which is made of a substantially one-piece molded ceramic material resulting in a low cost, highly reliable solar collector for residential and commercial use.
Another object of this invention is to provide a solar collector which may be manufactured through a very simple process using readily available materials and techniques such that the resultant solar collector may be manufactured throughout the world.
Another object of this invention is to provide a solar collector which is constructed of a one-piece molding of a material such as ceramic or the like which has a proven durability in hostile environments.
Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention, the description and the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.